The Sinking Isle
by Darth Nova
Summary: The Straw Hat Pirates are making their way to Fishman Island, but to get there they have to brave an island that is slowly collasping into the sea. SPOILERS up to the Thiller Bark arc
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. If I did, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction for it, or be living in a small town in Iowa.

Chapter 1

Sanji was relieved, as the Thousand Sunny finally broke free of the thick bank of fog that forever sat on top of the Floran Triangle. He would be forever thankful for whatever let them escape that crap-sea intact. However, Sanji wasn't entirely sure how they had managed to escape from Thriller Bark and that crap-pirate, Geko Moria intact. In fact the last thing Sanji remembered before waking up in the infirmary of the Thousand Sunny was himself and Chopper being flatten by that giant crap-zombie Oz, who Moria had given Luffy's shadow to.

The only two who had been conscious to witness how Luffy manage to beat Moria and Oz had been Nami and Usopp, and neither of them were talking. When Chopper had asked them what had happened, Nami had mumbled something about maps that needed to be finished, and Usopp collapsed into the fetal position.

The only clue the rest of the clue had as to what Nami and Usopp didn't want to talk about was that for the first few days after they left Thriller Bark, the two had avoided Luffy like the plague. When confronted about this odd behavior of the two around him, Luffy had simply burst out laughing and said that what had happened had been really cool. The rest of the crew simply gave up on answers after that.

One good thing the crew had got out of their little adventure was a new nakama. They had managed to convince Brook (kidnap was more like it) into joining the crew. Since then, he had done an amazing job of keeping Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper entertained and out of everyone else's hair.

"Brook, Could you come here for a minute? I want to ask you some questions," Sanji heard Nami call from the rear of the Sunny, probably near her mikan trees.

"Coming!" Brook shouted back, a chorus of groans following. Sanji got off the banister and started making his way to the kitchen. After all, it was only a matter of moments before Luffy got bored and started bugging him about lunch.

"You called?" Brook said, as he climbed the stairs up to where Nami and Robin had been relaxing under the shade of Nami's Mikan trees.

"Yeah," Nami replied, sitting up and turning to the living skeleton, "Brook, what do you know about Fishman Island?" Brook jerked slightly, and Nami was sure he would of blinked had he had eye lids.

"Fishman Island? Why do you want to know about that place?" Brook asked, staring at the thief as though she had grown another head.

"It is our next destination Musician-san." Robin answered, never looking up from the book she had been reading. Nami was sure Brooks jaw should have fallen off, it had dropped so low.

"I know that its an island completely underwater, and anyone who has eaten a devil fruit would be smart to avoid the island at all costs. In fact anyone who isn't a fishman should avoid that island."

"Why?" Nami asked. Brook ran a bony hand through his afro, his bony fingers quickly becoming caught.

"Jimbei lives on Fishman Island. He's one of the Shichibukai, and he hates humans." Brook answered, as he started pulling on his hand to try to get it free of his afro.

"Well, that's not going to change Luffy's mind. He'll probably just get all excited, and demand we get there faster," Nami whined.

"Do you know how to get to Fishman Island, Musician-san?" Robin asked, giving Brook her full attention.

"Well," Brook grunted, while violently tugging on his hand, "I've only heard rumors from people who had got caught by Moria who had come from that direction, but apparently, you can't go directly to Fishman Island unless you're a fishman."

"Why not?" Nami asked.

"Cause last I checked, we don't breath water that well," Brook replied, chuckling as a blush overcame Nami's face.

"Shut up!" She shouted, sending Brook into peels of laughter.

"Are you saying there is no way for us to get to Fishman Island," Robin asked.

"No," Brook replied, returning his attention to liberating his hand, "There is a way for us to get there."

"How," Nami asked.

"We need to land at Urasinky Island. Apparently there is a mostly safe route to Fishman Island from there, but you only have a one in three shot of getting there."

"Why?" A voice said from behind the trio. Nami and Brook both yelped in surprise. Robin merely smiled.

"Hello Captain-san, have you been listening in on us." Robin asked, turning to look at the young man, hanging upside down from one of the branches of Nami's mikan tree, one hand clamped firmly upon his straw hat.

"Luffy! Don't sneak up on people like that!" Nami shouted, then she blinked. When she next spoke her voice had dropped to a dangerous level. "Luffy, why are you in my trees."

Luffy shrugged, a dribble of orange juice running down the side of his face. Nami's eyes narrowed to tiny slits.

"Luffy. Did you eat one of my mikans?"

"No," He replied, wiping his face with his arm.

"Luffy…" Nami growled, clenching and unclenching her fists.

"I ate more then one."

A few minutes later, the rest of the crew, save Zoro who was up in the crows nest keeping watch (aka. Sleeping) had gathered on the back deck. Luffy was now sitting on the deck, tenderly touching several newly acquired lumps on his head. Robin was just finishing telling the others what Brook had told herself and Nami.

"So we can't just sail straight to Fishman Island, but we can get there if we go to this Urasinky Island." Sanji said, glancing at Brook for conformation. Brook nodded, finally working his hand free.

"At least, that's what I've over heard. We'll only have one chance to pick the right route there though, and we have to pick it from three separate routes. That's what the rumors say."

"Where do the other two routes go?" Franky asked, tilting his head to one side.

"One route heads for the second largest marine base on the Grand Line," Brook answered, "The other route leads to the Maw."

"What's the Maw?" Usopp asked, visibly trembling.

"It's a giant whirlpool, about three kilometers in diameter. Any ship that has ever been caught by it has never been seen again," Robin said.

"According to what I've heard, this is the safest way to Fishman Island."

"Alright, lets go to Urasinky Island!" Luffy shouted jumping into the air, Chopper copying him.

"How do we get there though genius? The log pose is set on Fishman Island." Nami shouted.

"Actually, it should be set on Urasinky Island, as it should be before Fishman Island." Robin said.

"Ugh," Usopp groaned, lying on the ground, "My Shouldn't-Go-To-This-Island disease is acting up."

"I'd help you Usopp, but I'm pretty sure that's incurable," Chopper said, walking past the fallen sharpshooter.

"Set course for Urasinky Island! Sanji! I want lunch!" Luffy shouted.

"Yeah, yeah," Sanji said, as the Strawhat Pirates scattered about to their respective duties.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. It is the creative property of Eiichiro Oda.

Chapter 2

Luffy sat on top of the figurehead of the Thousand Sunny, eagerly watching for their destination. Zoro stood just behind, on the forward deck, swinging a gigantic set of weights.

"I thought we were sailing to Fishman Island. Why are we going to this Urasinky place?" Zoro asked.

"Cause, it's a mystery island!" Luffy replied turning around to grin at Zoro.

"So, you have no idea either, huh?" Zoro replied, shaking his head at how innocently dim his captain could be at times.

"Urasinky is on our path to Fishman Island," Franky said, as he walked up to where the swordsman was training, "You can only get to Fishman Island through Urasinky, so most people simply ignore the fact that Urasinky is even there."

"How can they simply ignore it if it's the only way to get to such a famous place?" Luffy asked, watching the crew's shipwright like a little kid being told an interesting story.

"You see…" Franky began, drawing off; his arms crossed and his head bowed down. Zoro set down his weights, and Luffy started hopping up and down on top of the figure head, barely containing his excitement.

"It's a mystery island!" Franky finally said, straightening up and smirking.

"Cool!" Luffy shouted, returning his full attention to the horizon, "Mystery Island! Here we come!"

Zoro simply snorted, "Don't start acting like Luffy, Franky. We don't need to baby sit another idiot."

Franky chuckled as he began to buff the banister.

"Where's that greedy witch gone off to?" Zoro asked, lying down on the deck.

"Nami?" Franky replied, "Last I saw, she was interrogating Brook in the Galley." His only reply was the steady flow of snores issuing from the now sleeping swordsman. For a moment, Franky considered waking the younger man up, but an explosion from below deck quickly drove those thoughts from his mind.

"What the hell are you people doing!" he bellowed, rushing off in the direction of the ruckus, the sound of Luffy's laughter following him.

Another week passed, with Luffy's excitement about a new adventure giving way to an extreme case of boredom and an increased work load for the rest of the crew.

"What did you think you were doing?" Franky growled, his normal mood having long sense been utterly killed by his captains destructive fun.

Luffy sheepishly grinned, rubbing the back of his head, "I thought I could go down the slide faster if I grabbed the bottom before I went down, and I did."

"Yeah, you sure did, and you broke a big hole in the deck while doing it," Franky said, before sighing, "Get out of here, I need to fix up your mess."

Luffy grinned, before running off somewhere. Sanji's enraged bellows from the kitchen quickly revealed where the rubber man had ran off to.

"Land ho!" Ussopp shouted down from the crows nest, "I can see an island up ahead!"

Franky took a deep, calming breath, as the door to the Galley was reduced to splinters in Luffy's hurry to see the new island, the angry shouts of his nakama going unheard.

"Wow! Time to go on an adventure! Sanji! Make me a pirate lunch box!"

"Already made it," Sanji called, chucking the wrapped box at the back of Luffy's head.

"Oh! Sanji, how did you know that's what I wanted before I even asked you?!"

"What's so surprising about it? You never ask for anything else when we arrive at a new island," Sanji muttered, nimbly side stepping Franky, as the cyborg set to work replacing the galley door.

"Luffy!" Nami shouted from inside the galley, "Stay right where you are until we find a place to way anchor. We don't need you making things more difficult before we even get there."

Franky snorted as he finished fastening the door to its frame. "To late, He's gone."

"What!" Nami shrieked, running through the door, slamming it open hard enough to snap it off its hinges. She ignored Franky as he broke down into tears. She could just barely make out the red speck that was Luffy as it sailed through the air to the island.

"Oh no." Nami whimpered, falling to her knees, images of angry mobs flashing through her head.

On the island a small boy ran along the edge of a giant pit that was almost two kilometers at its deepest, and enveloped all but the very most outer edge of the island. Held in the center of the pit, by five giant struts was a pristine, white city that seemed to float in the fog that hadn't lifted from the city in some years. This was the capital, and only note worthy city on all of Urasinky. It was the great city of Legema, but the inhabitants had taken to calling it Cloud City. A few small fishing villages were scattered around on the kilometer wide rim, but most of the Island's trade took place in Cloud City. The walls of the pit, near the top were covered in houses and buildings. In some places they were almost stacked vertically, right on top of one another. Deeper into the pit, obscured by the fog, no one would go near because of the frightful sounds.

But this small boy cared for none of that at that moment, as he was far more concerned with what he saw out in the ocean. Gasping for breath, the boy forced his way into an old run down warehouse that looked to have been forgotten for years.

"Aniki!" The boy shouted, as he hurried deeper into the warehouse, where a group of thirty some shadowy figures encircled a man sitting in a throne like chair in the only ray of light that got into the warehouse. The man was wearing an open red vest that appeared to have once had sleeves. He wore no shirt under the vest revealing the extreme musculature that was deceptive for one of his build. He wore a pair of ripped blue jeans where the lower legs had been ripped off, and shoes that had steeled forcibly attached to their toes and heels. Around his arms and legs he wore fore thick guards that completely wrapped around his limbs, four large clasps locking them on. His face was partially hidden in the shadows cast by his throne, hiding his features.

"Aniki! Pirates are coming!" the boy half gasped, half shouted.

"Relax Sota," the man purred, "Who is it?"

"I… I think its Straw Hat Luffy and his crew!"

The man shifted slightly, and snapped his fingers. Instantly one of the figures surrounding him tossed a small packet of wanted posters to him.

"Lets see here, Straw Hat Luffy and his crew are worth…" he paused for a moment, a predatory grin spreading across his face, "660 million and 50 berries. Boys, we have some very important VIPs coming, so lets give them a once in a lifetime greeting and make a whole crap load of money to."

A thunderous cheer rang through out the warehouse, as the figures began running around, making preparations. The man smirked, studying Luffy's picture.

"Lets see just how strong you are Mr. 300 million. I hope you'll make the hunt fun."

A/N: Well that's chapter two. Sorry about the wait. Hope you enjoy it.


End file.
